Star and A Stray Dog
by Thorn In Your Side
Summary: Renji/Rukia. A fairy tale told by Orihime.


**Star and a Stray Dog**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach!**

**A/N: I loved that chapter title. And in my own goofy way, I attempted to write the fairy tale to go with it. **

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Karakura was settling into bed. But a group of friends were having a slumber party—why did they call these things that, no one ever slept at them—and they were no where near sleepy.

"Stories!" Rukia yelled in a bossy voice, "Let's hear 'em! Orihime, you go, you tell!"

"I know one," the girl whispered, "A fairy tale. My brother used to tell me it…"

"He was brilliant," Tatsuki sighed, "At story telling."

"Then lets _hear it," _Rukia said dangerously. The girls squealed and settled deeper into their blankets and listened to Orihime's soft voice spin a tale.

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It was midnight on earth.

It was noon in the sky.

The stray dog ventured forth from his dark hole, his sanctuary of day. He trotted down the street with his snout to the indigo blanket above him.

There she was.

The star he was looking for.

_Rukia. _

That name had vibrations. That name resounded with the weight of the sky and moon, it held all the love of the cosmos close to its jubilant syllables.

_Rukia, Rukia. _

The dog had not always been a stray. A long time ago he had a home where his mistress had pampered him, and he had pampered her with attention. She had called him Renji, the young woman of the house. She had been the one to bathe him and feed him from her own golden plate and her let him drink from her own golden cup.

But that was before Rukia. That was before Renji, the spoilt Pomeranian of the palatial mansion had looked up one night, and fallen in love.

He couldn't bear to face his mistress after that. At first she panicked, sending for doctors from far and wide to tend to her precious pet. Then she came to realize he was not ill, but that his fancy had been taken captive and caged by something in the sky, some beauty she couldn't see. She grew mean with jealousy, mean with the thought that her kindness and love could be spurned by a little dog.

She threw him out of the house—and Renji did not even notice, he was so intent upon watching the star.

Rukia was such a beautiful star.

She didn't glow golden-white, like the others. She glowed a hot blue color, the heart of a dragon. She winked at him from on high, and Renji couldn't tear his eyes away. When she set, when the sun rose, he curled up in filth to sleep a fitful sleep and dream fitful dreams about a cyan embrace. When twilight arrived he slunk out again to look for her. To look at her.

And he longed to hold her, and have her look at him.

He loved her so hard, so terribly hard, and that love was so frightening he didn't dare wish for that one thing. He didn't dare wish for her to find him looking at her. As a stray, his soft red fur went dark and matted with dirt. His golden eyes grew a dull amber sheen from gazing at Rukia with such loneliness. His paws trod the same path, night after night, and he lived a wretched life.

And one night, when he looked up—she wasn't there.

He couldn't believe his eyes. He scanned the heavens in growing anxiety, in fear, in full fledged panic. But his sweet blue star just wasn't there to be found. The grief gnawed at his mind and he was at a loss for what to do, and that was when he met the girl.

A short girl, a slim girl, with jagged black hair spiking at her neck, with warm black eyes and a black robe. She was walking down the street, walking towards him. Her hips swung to rhythm only she heard, and her lips smiled at a one-liner that the breeze whispered in her ear.

_Rukia, Rukia._

Oh gods, she'd fallen from the sky.

Renji froze on the path. He shrunk back into the darkness.

_Rukia, Rukia._

Oh gods, had she seen him watching her?

Was she here for him?

For _him?_

No.

_Rukia, oh, Rukia…_

Stars don't fall out of the sky for stray dogs.

"Oh, Rukia."

They fall out of the sky for handsome princes with soft orange hair and melting brown eyes.

"Ichigo," she smiled. Her voice was a slip of silk on jasper. The prince stepped forth from the shadows Renji had shrunk into and embraced her. The dog whimpered and whined. His star kissed her prince.

"Rukia, Rukia…"

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"Hey, hey, hold on!" Tatsuki objected, "You know what, I never liked this story. Let's change the ending!"

"Change the ending?" Orihime frowned, "What do you mean?"

Rukia threw a pillow at her. "She means, switch it around so the dog gets the star!"

Orihime beamed at them both. "I can do that!"

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The star stepped out of the prince's embrace.

"What was that?"

Ichigo was in love, he didn't listen to her words. "What was what?" he murmured, his lips seeking hers.

"The whine, the whimper!"

Renji could scarcely believe his luck. She had heard him? She had heard his pain?

"Me," he tried to say, "It's me, it's me, it's Renji…"

"A dog," Ichigo said, "Can't you hear it barking?"

"No," Rukia whispered, "I hear him talking."

_Rukia, Rukia._

Such a beautiful star.

She was walking towards him.

He smiled at her. She saw it, she felt it, she loved it.

"Renji?" she asked.

"Rukia," he said.

"Will you come with me, away?"

"With you, I'd come away anywhere."

She gave him another smile, and bent down to kiss his snout. "Will you come with me, away, to the heavens?"

"Tell me how," the dog said, "Tell me how and I'll follow you anywhere."

"Like this," the star replied, and touched his paw. In that moment, the stars above shined down on them with pity, each extending a little of their own brightness. And with a bit of brightness from each star, Renji became a little happier, a little lighter, a little brighter himself. Rukia held his paw—his hand, his light? Rukia held him to her as they shot into the sky.

_Rukia, Rukia._

_Renji, Renji._

They began to shine together, entwined.

And to this day, you can see him, the Dog Star, shining next to his beloved.

**x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.**

**Ah~**


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